bowie county deputy
some sad news a Bowie county deputy was killed sat. with his own weapon in new boston tx during an apparent scuffle. The suspect was fould later dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
it seems that a lot of our good offices are getting killed.[V][V][V]
it seems that a lot of our good offices are getting killed.[V][V][V]
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RIP,.....Officer![:(] 0 -
Bowie County deputy killed: Suspect found dead in woods
By: Terri Richardson - Texarkana Gazette - Published: 07/01/2007
Bowie County Sheriff James Prince gets emotional as he talks to a reporter at the scene where Bowie County Sheriff's Deputy Michael Page was fatally shot Saturday north of New Boston, Texas. Page was shot with his own service weapon and the suspect, Henry Wakefield, was later found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities said. Staff photo by Robb PittardNEW BOSTON, Texas-A Bowie County deputy was shot and killed with his own service weapon early Saturday during an apparent scuffle with a suspect, who was later found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities said. Sheriff's Deputy Michael Page, 34, was shot when he responded to a report of a car running into a telephone pole around 1 a.m. Saturday on Daniel Chapel Road, north of New Boston, authorities said. He was taken by ambulance to CHRISTUS St. Michael Health Center where he was pronounced dead. "He was a top-notch officer. They do not come any better. It has been a great loss," said Lt. Pat Savage with the Bowie County Sheriff's Office, one of Page's supervisors.
He is the first Bowie County officer killed in the line of duty since the 1960s. The suspect, who has been identifed as 36-year-old Henry Leon Wakefield, was found dead in woods near the scene of the wrecked car. His death appears to be a suicide, authorties said.
Before Wakefield's body was found at 8:40 a.m., law enforcement officials from several local agencies launched a massive manhunt for him. Page's death has hit the department and the entire law enforcement community very hard. "We all know every day when we put this uniform on, something like this can happen. But we don't think about it a lot," said Bowie County Sheriff James Prince. "God is the only one who knows things like this are going to happen and the only one who knows how they are going to turn out."
Because a law enforcement officer was involved, the investigation into the incident is being headed by the Texas Rangers. The bodies of Page and Wakefield will be sent to Dallas for autopsies. Page was on patrol at 1:08 a.m. Saturday when he responded to a major vehicle accident on Farm to Market Road 992, also known as Daniel Chapel Road, north of New Boston.
Prince said Wakefield had been in a physical altercation with another person Friday night and the Honda Accord he was driving when he struck the light pole may have been stolen. Wakefield fled the scene when Page arrived, Prince said. "He (Page) pursued the driver of the vehicle into a wooded area west of the roadway. We're not sure exactly what happened, but shots were fired," Prince said.
Initial investigations revealed Page was shot once. The bullet went in through the top of his right shoulder to his stomach area, Prince said. The New Boston Fire Department, already en route to the car accident when the shots were fired, discovered Page in the woods and brought him out, Prince said. "At least two more shots were heard by the firefighters," said Prince.
Front yards became staging grounds for search parties, many called out long before dawn. Working within a 4-mile-by-4-mile-radius, the search was a true Ark-La-Tex effort with hundreds responding from law enforcement agencies out of Arkansas, Texas and Louisiana. "Officers from practically every city in the county are here," Prince said.
Agencies who participated were the Red River County Sheriff's Office, Clarksville Police Department, Cass County Sheriff's Office, Atlanta Police Department, Bossier Parrish Sheriff's Office, Texas Department of Public Safety and both Texarkana police departments. Officers from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice brought bloodhounds to use in addition to the other dogs. New Boston Fire Department, dispatched on the original car accident call, stood watch at the perimeters. Several local volunteer fire departments also assisted in the search.
A Bowie County helicopter and a DPS helicopter swept the skies in circles as they searched for Wakefield. The beat of helicopter blades and the many brays of dogs alerted nearby residents to the ongoing search. "We were not going to stop until we found him," Prince said. Calls were also made to those living in and near the perimeter of the search instructing them to secure their homes. It is a rural, residential area.
Carpenters continued construction on a new home being built less than 500 feet from the command post Saturday morning. At 8:40 a.m. officers' radios echoed an end to the manhunt with instructions for search parties to return to the command post established at 1805 FM 992. Wakefield had suffered a single, self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. He was still holding Page's service weapon when he was discovered, Prince said.
Prince said Wakefield's body was in "extremely thick" underbrush where deputies on horseback had not been able to go. The body was located by Shank, a 3-year-old bloodhound with Bossier Parish Sheriff's Office. Shank works with Deputy Roger Johnson of the Bossier Parish Sheriff's Office. This was the first time Bossier Parish Sheriff's Office has brought Shank across the state line to find a suspect in an officer shooting, Johnson said.
"It's a horrible thing to hear that an officer is down but worse when you arrive and discover that the officer has died. When you have a loose suspect, you put that suspect at the front of your mind. If he will shoot an officer, that person is dangerous, very dangerous," said Johnson. Wakefield was arrested by Bowie County Sheriff's Office in 1998 for a felony assault, according to records. It is unknown if he was convicted of the crime. Prince described Page as a "wonderful person to be around" who was always professional.
"You could depend on him to get the job done. Anything you asked him to do, he did it," he said. Prince said the intense search for the suspect helped keep the officers focused in the aftermath of the shooting. "We stayed very busy trying to locate the person responsible for this needless crime," he said.
Once the suspect's body was located, however, the reality of Page's death began to sink in for many of the officers on scene. "I did pretty good until now," Prince said in a choked voice. Standing in the back of a pickup, the sheriff called all the other searchers around him and thanked them for their hard work.
One by one, radios that only moments before called law enforcement officials back to the command post were switched off. As the officers congregated, many bowed their heads and held personal moments of silence as Prince spoke. "This response shows how much we all care about each other. I love each and every one of you," he said, his comments also directed at the New Boston Fire Department. "This is what it is all about. Cops taking care of cops."
Page, who lived in Redwater, was married and the father of two small children. Prince said he had met with Page's wife Saturday and had spoken to his father. "They are doing about as well as you can expect," he said.
Page had been an officer with Bowie County Sheriff's Office for approximately 3 years. Before he was with the sheriff's department, Page spent about 5 years as a patrol officer for the Texarkana, Texas, Police Department. "He was a good officer. Everybody that knew him thought so," said TTPD Sgt Kevin Schutte. Schutte said he was not surprised at the outpouring of support from the other agencies.
"We're all a big family. There is no different color uniform when something like this happens," he said. Simms volunteer firefighter Paul Beard, who assisted in the search, went to high school with Page at Liberty-Eylau. "He would make you laugh. He was something else. He loved to cut up," Beard said.
He said Page maintained his sense of humor even after becoming a sheriff's deputy. "It would help break the ice in a lot of things. If he were here right now, he would have us all laughing. He enjoyed being a police officer. He enjoyed anything he did. He was a special person," Beard said.
Rest in Peace.......
rider0 -
Rider thanks for posting the whole thing Im at work and read it in the local paper.
Tazz0 -
[:(!][:(] RIP Deputy Page; It sickens me how often this happens. 0
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